‘They could have been saved’: Relatives of returned dead hostages voice deep frustration

The Hostages Families and Missing Forum on Tuesday welcomed the extraction of the bodies of Avraham Munder, Alex Dancyg, Chaim Peri, Yagev Buchshtab, Yoram Metzger, and Nadav Popplewell, all kidnapped alive by Hamas on October 7. But it also urged the government to “do everything in its power” to finalize a long-delayed agreement to secure the release of the remaining 109 hostages held in Gaza, saying that a negotiated deal was the only way to get them home.

“The recovery of the bodies of Abraham, Alex, Chaim, Yagev, Yoram, and Nadav crucially provides their families with necessary closure and grants eternal rest to the murdered,” the Hostages Forum said in a statement.

“Israel has a moral and ethical obligation to return all the murdered for dignified burial and to bring all living hostages home for rehabilitation. The immediate return of the remaining 109 hostages can only be achieved through a negotiated deal. The Israeli government, with the assistance of mediators, must do everything in its power to finalize the deal currently on the table.”

The IDF announced on Tuesday morning that the six bodies were recovered in an overnight operation in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. All six are known to have been taken to Gaza alive during the Hamas-led attack on October 7 and were killed over the course of the ensuing war.

Mati Dancyg, whose father Alex’s body was recovered on Tuesday, lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, accusing it of “choosing to abandon the hostages in order to survive.”

Speaking to Kan news, Dancyg noted testimony from released hostages that said Alex was in decent condition in the initial months after thousands of Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 251.

“He and all the hostages could have been brought back,” he charged. “Netanyahu chose to sacrifice the hostages. Karma will judge him and he will pay for it, big time.”

The comments came as the Israeli negotiating team was set to meet US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators to discuss the latest proposal for a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas later this week, after two days of negotiations in Doha last week. Mediators had expressed renewed optimism that a deal was close after the Doha talks, but recent days have seen the positivity cool after Hamas rejected the latest offer.

Avraham Munder, 78, was the only one of the six slain hostages returned to Israel on Tuesday whose death in captivity had not yet been confirmed by the IDF.

His 9-year-old grandson Ohad Munder-Zichri, who was also kidnapped from Kibbuz Nir Oz to Gaza on October 7 and released in a weeklong truce in November along with his mother and grandmother, said on Tuesday that attempts to close a deal since have “always been reversed at the last minute.”

“All of the hostages could have come home alive. On the first day. I came back alive, but some hostages who were rescued aren’t alive anymore, like my grandfather,” he told Kan.

The family of Yagev Buchshtab, 35, who was confirmed dead in July, said in a statement that while they were glad for the “closure” of the return of his body, they would “continue to fight together with the other hostage families.”

He was kidnapped with his wife Rimon Kirsht Buchshtab, 36, from their home on Kibbutz Nirim on October 7. Rimon was also released in the November deal.

“We know that he survived February in captivity. He and the others could have been saved. That is why it is important to save those who can so that no more families will be in our situation. We have been in the circle of mourning for some time,” the Buchshtab family said.

Nadav Popplewell, 51, was also kidnapped along with his mother Channah Peri from the saferoom in his home on Kibbutz Nirim on October 7. Peri was released in the November deal, while Popplewell was declared dead by the IDF in June.

The daughter of Chaim Peri, 79, said on Tuesday, “It’s impossible to ignore the feeling of rage. For the terrible negligence that led to his kidnapping on October 7 and the ongoing negligence in the decision not to release and save him while he was still alive.”

“The public must know — this is the fate of the hostages who are abandoned in captivity. On this day, I am thinking mainly of the hostages who are still dying [in Gaza], subject to the same danger and in need of immediate rescue,” she was quoted by Ynet as saying.

Peri was kidnapped alive from his home on Kibbutz Nir Oz, and confirmed dead in June.

Both Peri and Yoram Metzger appeared alive in a propaganda video released by Hamas in December.

Ayala Metzger, the daughter-in-law of Metzger, 80, and one of the leaders of a group of hostage families that regularly protests against the government, said on Tuesday that the family had “mixed feelings” about the news.

“The feelings are very mixed. This chapter is almost closed for us. At least Yoram and his friends are coming home. We will have a grave. We don’t know what happened to him there, or what the circumstances of his death were,” she said, while also vowing to continue to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Her fellow protest leader Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan Zangauker has been held hostage in Gaza since he was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, reportedly claimed on Tuesday that Mossad chief David Barnea had told her that a hostage deal would not be possible “in the current political constellation.”

A statement from Netanyahu’s office on behalf of the spy agency flatly denied the quote, insisting that the Mossad chief “continues to work to bring about an agreement for the release of all hostages as soon as possible.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that Netanyahu had confirmed Jerusalem’s acceptance of the bridging proposal offered by the US last week in Doha.

Pressure to secure a deal to halt the fighting in Gaza and release hostages held by the terror group since October 7 has peaked in recent weeks after both Iran and Hezbollah threatened major retaliatory attacks on Israel for the killings of high-level terror chiefs last month. Both are understood to be holding off pending the results of the negotiations.

Opposition politicians were also critical of the government on the news of the extraction of the hostages’ bodies, with Yesh Atid chair Yair Lapid writing on X simply, “They were alive!”

It is believed that 105 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 30 hostages have been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.

Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.